I've started new angel wings many times, mainly when my main plant is getting leggy. All I do is snip off a branch, remove the bottom leaves up to the water line that I am using, and just stick it in plain water until roots appear. I like to transplant it in soil while the roots are still very small, then keep the soil wet at first, then gradually letting it become used to drier soil as the roots grow. It's actually one of the easier plants to root. (My purple heart is still in first place for ease of rooting)

HUH....never knew that you could do Angelwing/Cane types from this method.

I've done Rex's and rhizo's like this, wish I'd seen your instructions & pics earlier...took me a while to get it right from other instructions I've found on the web. Yours describe & show it so clearly.

I still lose quite a few this way....I have better luck with Rex's by just rooting the whole leaf & stem, and getting new plants grow from the rooted end of the stem.

I'll have to try it on one of my cane-types and see how it works....course, since it's so late, that may have to wait till next spring...I've got enough to try to tuck away for winter.

Tim

They can be propagated by seed, stem and leaf cuttings, and by root division. ;-) Can't miss with begonias.

oh wow- that's so cool to know because mine needs a severe pruning. I basically need to cut it all the way down to a stubby cane because the only two canes that my miserable plant has, are so long they are bent over. There has been absolutely no branching.

I have a begonia 'bubbles'. All this while I thought it was doing okay because I didn't even know what mine should look like LOL. Till recently I looked up some images and was shocked to see how full they can be. And all this time I was so pleased with my two pathetic canes which are completely bare till half way up.

Anyway, so I thought if I did cut down most of the two canes, down to stubs, I could try rooting the stems as well as some of the leaves. Is this a really bad time to do so? I successfully root different jasmines and my potato vine in water throughout the year- and also the wandering jew. But those are the only ones I have been successful with. I don't think I'm very good at rooting things in soil- tried gardenia and hibs that way but they all died. I don't know how easy the angel winged begonia will be.

I know I should probably wait till spring to chop it down, huh? But it just looks so pathetic right now I can't wait all the way till next year- ugghh!

Nota, why not try a couple leaves now, and save some for spring? Spring meaning the end of Feb beginning of March. Those you root now will give you something to do this winter. Also, it'll be good practice for those you root in spring..Toni

So you're saying that instead of chopping it almost to the stubs, I should just give it a small pruning now and try a few leaves?

I coulda sworn I read some other postings about pruning the cane types- and someone said something about them looking kinda ugly when the tips are pruned and new growth starts. Is that true or am I just imagining that I read it?

I don't know what you read, but I suspect that you are not imagining. Dormant buds will break only so far down the stem, leaving gawky 'legs' instead of a nice, full, compact plant. I'm a total believer in chopping plants like this to very short stubs, but I am not sure about the appropriate timing. To me, seems like the major event should take place in the early spring.

Some people have a fear of severe pruning, when in fact, it creates a very productive response in plants.

I've been preparing to give a program on begonias, and the book says very few cane (Angelwing) begonias will grow from leaves. Sometimes they'll root, but never grow plants. The few that do grow from leaves have a rhizomatous ancester. But cane cuttings are so easy, and if you have a leggy plant it needs pruning, and then you can root the prunings. I suppose it's easier in the spring, but I'm right in the middle of doing a lot of them myself. I've been woefully remiss this very dry summer about keeping them watered, so a lot have gotten leggy. They probably root faster in the spring.

How long does it take to propagate new begonias from leaves?

I'm currently trying the leaf propagation method with a few different begonias and, actually, some peperomias (just in case it works!). I was only able to obtain (ie pilfer) leaves of these. So I slit a few of the larger veins on the leaves and set them into a sand/vermiculite mixture and held them down with toothpicks, and i also cut up other bits of leaves into triangles (had read about that technique also) and set them into the sand. The whole tray is inside a big baggie. Does that sound about right?

It's been almost two weeks and not much is happening... how long should it take before I see something?

Thanks!

Hello. I have had my angel wing begonia for about a year now. I have many times rooted out a leaf in just a glass of water, did have a few that rotted out. I am now trying the stem method in a glass of water, and also by scoring a leaf and using toothpicks to tack it down. My plant is beautiful with 2 new shoots starting to come up (there has been others). I didn't realize though that they should flower. Mine ofcourse never has. I have a hard time growing anything that is suppose to flowere again after the first itme it blooms. Any suggestions I'd appreciate it. Thank you.

Camogirl, I find the more sun a begonia gets, the better chance of blooms. My begonias are kept in a west window, adjacent south, and about 5' across is a plant light. 3 different begonias are now in bloom.
Summers outdoors, in a semi-sunny spot should help, too. Toni

Hey at least you have new shoots coming up- I get plenty of flowers but only managed one new shoot in the whole year that I've had my angel wing. And that too, I had cut off one really hung over shoot right before that- so I was back to even.

Strangely, I do really well rooting the stems in water. I root a lot of stuff in water and most take about 3-4 weeks minimum whereas the begonia takes one week to start showing roots. I've never tried just the leaf but I can't see how it would survive in water. I know there are special ways of rooting begonia leaves and I've read great instructions somewhere on this site before- but not sure if it was in this forum.

I have started many rhizomatous (and rex) begonias by water rooting leaf cuttings. For cane (angel wing) begonias, it is very easy to water root the stems - never the leaves on this class of begonia.

I like to take a leaf & cut the stem to about an inch from the leaf then put the stem in moist sphagnum moss & in a few weeks its rooted. The moss helps grow stronger roots than water propagation & it’s easier for the babies to push to the surface than in soil.I wait for the roots to get pretty mature or for babies to pop out of the moss before I repot it. I’ve started using moss for almost all my leaf propagations & use water for stem cuttings.

I mainly use Jiffy pellets the last few years to do rhizomatous begonias by leaf wedges. Canes cannot be started by a leaf though. Some Asian species cane-looking begonias can be started by a leaf such as brevirimosa and amphioxus.

I started six Silver Queen wedges (one leaf) in Mid-November and this is what they looked like two weeks ago. I think 3 starters would be ample for this 10 inch pot.

I started Mrs. Ludwig early this month and this shows some with roots two weeks later. I now have two that have put out tiny leaves. The green ones are not Mrs Ludwig and neither are the two on the right front row. The stem is Janet Brown which fell off so I saw a dormant bud and am trying to get a new plant out of it.
canes are easily water rooted or stuck in soil and watered lightly.
This is the pot of canes from above 3 months later.

I propagated a "Teen Angel" leaf six months ago and it has rooted in the soil and has the same beautiful leaf but no other plant growth. The Teen Angel is a cane begonia.